


Undercover Santa

by shadowolfhunter



Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sean is trapped, Stabbing, Undercover, hidden agendas, risk/reward, santa's elves are scary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-03 13:29:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8715760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowolfhunter/pseuds/shadowolfhunter
Summary: "I've protected you at times, and in situations, which you know nothing of."It's true. Sean has protected Nick over the years, sometimes well and truly against his best interests and sometimes even against orders, because Sean is not as free to choose as everyone thinks he is. Only Wu knows that the Captain is trapped, and there isn't a way out.Until Santa.





	1. The Day Job

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TeamRenhardt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamRenhardt/gifts), [tolieawake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tolieawake/gifts), [JollyCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JollyCat/gifts), [StyxxsOmega](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StyxxsOmega/gifts), [Corvus_Aconitum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corvus_Aconitum/gifts).



> Okay, several days late, but I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> The original idea was that Sean was a kind of part time James Bond, but that rapidly got jossed when Santa entered the fray, then The Man From U.N.C.L.E ate my brain, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and their mysterious Clairvoyant, and a few demons may have joined in... Hello! this was born.
> 
> I apologise in advance for the bouts of tooth-rotting fluff, because Sean is in another mess... And there will be moments where you may scratch your head. The chance to dress Sean in Santa clothes of superior quality... well who said that Santa couldn't be hot??

Sean stowed the bag carefully in the back of his SUV. Having recovered the damn weapon successfully, he wasn't about to let it fall into the hands of another idiot with delusions of power.

When he was young and foolish, he had thought his paternal family were the only delusional idiots in the world. That was before his own foolish mistake, and paying for it the way he was. He loved his mother, he knew she only did what she did to save her son's life and/or the ignominy of year upon weary year in prison, but sometimes, on days like today, he wished that he'd taken his chances with the prison system.

It took a second for him to recognise the ring tone. That ring tone. He pushed the button and answered immediately. He really wasn't in any shape to deal with the vague hints of retribution for making the phone ring too long.

"It's done."

He was tired of it all, and something may have leaked through in his voice.

_"And how many years would you be owing Uncle Sam right now, Sean?"_

The voice on the other end of the phone painted a sinister little picture of the fate awaiting Sean, being arrested in his office, hauled out of the precinct in handcuffs, making it all as humiliating as possible.

Sean listened without interruption, then "I understand." He tried to keep his exhaustion and frustration out of his tone, knowing that any expressions of a lack of co-operation and he was done.

_"See that you do, Sean. I will be in touch."_

Sean closed the tailgate, and slipped stiffly behind the wheel. A two hour drive, and he would be back just about in time to start his day job. Somewhere deep inside he wished he didn't owe his current position to his usefulness to his masters. 

 

Two and a half hours later, freshly showered, shaved and his usual immaculate suit, Sean mounted the stairs heading for his department. Not quite ready to face his day but the consequences of failure dented his self-image and that was one thing the proud man would not allow. Anything less than one hundred percent and someone could die. His officers deserved better. Especially one.

 

Nick Burkhardt stared at the file. It seemed that praying for inspiration was just about the only thing left. They had been investigating for weeks, it had begun with the death of a janitor, and somehow Nick and Hank had gotten almost nowhere. They needed to get a man on the inside. And that wasn't going to be easy, it was really Narcotics division, but they had backed off after a cursory glance and dropped the whole thing in Homicide's lap. Something that made both Nick and Hank very suspicious.

Some of whatever was going on behind closed doors at Derry's Department Store was clearly Wesen, Nick had recently learned that his Captain was Wesen. Renard had been helpful a few times, but Nick didn't feel that he could trust the man, Sean Renard was clearly keeping secrets, then hot on the heels of the realisation that Renard was the Royal in Portland, came the Wesen revelation, and now Nick was back to square one with Renard.

Sometimes Nick would catch a word or look which went straight to his wavering soul, but that was his little cross to bear. It really didn't matter, because Sean Renard was at best a frenemy and Nick wasn't getting closer any time soon.

 

Sean moved to close his blinds, caught the frozen look on his detective's face and flinched. His own fault, but it didn't make the finality of his detective's dislike any easier to bear.

 

Hank looked up from his files in time to catch the stare, the flinch and the closing blinds, and sighed; wishing that he could get Nick past his dislike of the Captain. Hank might have had four wives, all exes, even if he couldn't make his romantic life work it didn't mean he didn't know a whole heap about relationships. Nick had been eating his heart out for years now, over their handsome commanding officer. Now Hank was not on intimate terms with Sean Renard but he knew love when he saw it, and Sean Renard was in love with Nick Burkhardt, and had been for a long time now. True the man was secretive, and there were a couple of great glaring chasms that they needed to overcome, but Hank could see where they would be good for each other.

He looked down at his file for a moment. Perhaps this was an opportunity. They needed an undercover, Sean Renard definitely had the experience, perhaps it would bring them closer, some shared understanding. Hank looked up from his file and cleared his throat....


	2. Setting Up The Sting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Wu is revealed to be in on the Captain's secret, and secretly concerned about his Captain's health and well-being, Hank is also concerned and Nick is being obtuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay folks, things keep conspiring to make me less attentive to writing, but since the plan is to have the happy conclusion on Christmas Eve for this one, I had better get cracking.

Wu watched Hank and Nick enter the Captain's office, and sighed. Sean Renard was a good and capable officer, whatever he had done in his early years to put himself in the hands of the Wesen Council, they were milking it for all it was worth. In this case, milking Sean to the point of exhaustion.

Though he wasn't really in the Captain's confidence, and sometimes juggling the things he did know, and the things he had to pretend not to know, was pretty tiring. Wu knew about Wesen, the aswang of his people had seen to that, and then the many years of collaboration with Sean Renard, as the dedicated police officer struggled to make both ends meet, and deal with his obligations in the Human and Wesen world, sometimes twice over, Wu knew a lot. Sometimes more than he was comfortable with.

And he had the strongest and most unhappy feeling that Hank and Nick's case was going to clash with the Wesen Council in the worst possible way.

There were times when Wu truly hated the snobbish cultured voice that came over the line, wanting to speak to Sean Renard. The voice never used Sean's title and that alone made Wu bristle like an angry cat. He just hoped that this time Alexander kept his distance. The man's last visit almost killed Renard. Right now, with Nick hating the Captain for being Royal and Wesen and probably for being his commanding officer too, they did not need the added distraction.

 

"... So you see Captain, we need someone undercover." Hank finished, leaving the ball in Renard's court. True Sean Renard was a striking looking man, his height and demeanour didn't make for the best kind of undercover, but they did need someone with the skills to do it, and the ability to think on his feet, and privately Hank also thought if they were forced to work with each other, there would be a chance for all this negativity to get sorted out.

So he left it there and waited hopefully.

Sean studied the file, mostly playing for time as he weighed his options. This was, surprisingly, not all that unexpected, they needed an undercover, and like it or not, Sean was their best option. He didn't like it. He had no doubt he could do it. He had done something similar before, but he had some uncomfortable feelings about this one. Not the least his fractured relationship with Nick. If it came down to it, all that Sean had done to Nick that the younger man was aware of, if the chips were down, would Nick have his back?

And he hated himself for even thinking it, because Nick was a good, brave and very loyal officer. Sean was tired and struggling emotionally even though he was keeping that buried.

He read through the summary again, giving himself time, evening out his heart rate and making his decision.

He flipped the file closed and looked up. Handed the file back to Hank. "Very well, I'm in."

Hank took the file and shot a quick glance Nick's way, then suppressed the need to roll his eyes in irritation. Nick was sulking. Outwardly attentive, but Hank could feel the attitude. Well he was about to receive a rude awakening.

"Thank you, sir." He shuffled the papers in the file, and then began to lay out his plan.

 

Nick made his way back to his desk, confused at the rush of emotion he experienced when Sean agreed to go undercover, he couldn't decide how he felt. He was still angry, Sean had lied. Okay, not actively lied, but he had known all along who Nick was, what Nick was, and that Nick was sometimes overwhelmed, and he hadn't exactly proved himself to be a friend. _...protected you_ Sean's half-angry little speech was running on a loop in his head, which didn't help in the slightest.

 

Sean examined the Santa suits on offer with a disdain that Hank and Wu extremely grateful was not directed at them. They watched as he plucked a jacket from the pile and held it up, the cheap, orange-y red nylon fur looked wilted and sad. "I will provide my own costume." He said, in a tone of finality.


	3. Elf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The full impact of Hank's cunning plan is revealed to Nick. Nick is not happy. Then he gets an eyeful of 'Santa' and realises this thing is going to be a lot harder than he has anticipated....

"I can't believe you did this." Nick plucked disdainfully at the green corduroy tunic, and scowled. Hank smirked, his tough-guy Grimm partner's disdain was nowhere near as scary as Renard's. Though it had to be said that so far Nick was the grumpiest Christmas store elf that Hank had ever seen. Hank had to admit that the red and white stripy roll neck top and tights under the offending green tunic would probably make him grumpy too, the outfit was topped off with a slouchy green velvet cap, trimmed in white fur, with a white fur pom-pom on the end which reminded Hank in a vague kind of way of Zelda.

Resisting the urge to tell his partner that Nick looked like a female game elf, Hank patted Nick's shoulder, "well, someone has to be Renard's back up, and frankly that someone has to be you."

Nick scowled. "Why?"

"It just has to be, okay?!"

Nick opened his mouth to give Hank a piece of his Grimm mind, (not the cuddly catch and release Grimm version either) when the tramp of feet announced Renard's arrival.

Nick's jaw dropped, and whatever he had been about to say left his head.

 _Gorgeous..._ was all Nick's slightly panicked brain could come up with, as he struggled to find sufficient superlatives to describe Sean's appearance.

His huge, powerfully built Captain was dressed in dark, sumptuous red velvet, white collarless shirt, with a wing collar and snowy white cravat, a diamond capped tie pin keeping it in place, the deep red jacket trimmed in beautiful white fur fell to mid-thigh, the breeches were of the same material, polished gold buttons fastened at the knee, his lower legs encased in soft black leather riding boots. The jacket was unfastened, and fell open, revealing more of Sean's muscular frame than his suits normally did. He was carrying a black leather belt with a square gold buckle, and the outfit was crowned in a gorgeous velvet Santa hat trimmed in the same soft white fur, with a large white fur pom-pom on the end. Like Nick, only so very not like Nick.

There was no chubby belly, fake or otherwise in sight, and no curly white beard... And here Nick's brain stuttered to a complete halt. He had seen Sean only two days before. Somehow in that time Sean had managed to grow a beard. Goatee style, with elongated sideburns, neatly shaved into a broken arrow point on each cheek. It was the wire-rimmed gold frame glasses, Nick decided, swallowing, they softened the whole effect, made the Captain seem both imposing and approachable at the same time.

Nick gulped a little.

Santa was real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Nick's costume, google images of Timothy Olyphant in the Santaland Diaries, by David Sedaris.
> 
> It's not that I don't love Nick, but the opportunity to make him grumpy, and see Sean's surpassing gorgeousness and therefore lose his dislike of the man in an overwhelming flood of attraction, was simply far too good to pass up.
> 
> For Sean's general level of gorgeousness, picture RDJ's Ironman beard (no white rubicund-ness allowed here), classy gold wire-rim glasses, and a dark red velvet suit trimmed with sumptuous white fur... I know you can...
> 
> >:)
> 
> About the thing being harder.... stop snickering... I can hear you...


	4. Making moves...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entirely too many women are making moves, and Nick and Sean are apparently making no progress in the case. Which gives Nick plenty of time to warm up his jealousy.

Nick stood behind his 'Santa' and glared at the line of expectant customers, very few men, although there were a few, but mostly women, dressed up to the nines, with eager looks on their faces. And that swimmy look that Nick had learned to identify within a couple of hours of Sean beginning this gig as the store's Santa Claus. The look was extremely predatory, and suggested that all these mommies wanted to be the one sitting on Santa's knee.

And wasn't that the surprise and a half, even the most squally, piggy-eyed, red-faced brat calmed down on Santa's knee. Somehow the Royal half-zauberbiest had the gift of calming children. They seemed to like him.

There was a child on his knee right now, a little girl that had been screaming and wailing not five minutes before, calm, happy, smiling up at 'Santa' without a care in the world. Sean was looking down at her, and Nick could swear that the older man had a wistful look in his eyes, Nick scowled a little more, probably a trick of the light off those spectacles. The Sean Renard he knew was a cold, closed-off man who couldn't possibly have emotions for a child.

 

Wu watched the live feed which he had managed to hook into the station's system. It wasn't that hard to do, and certainly no struggle for the technologically adept Sergeant. Unlike Nick, he saw the want on Sean's face, the tired acceptance of Nick's dislike, the gentle way Sean managed to calm each child. Deep down inside, Wu wondered why Nick just couldn't see it. Yes, maybe Sean Renard appeared as the aloof captain, but Wu had seen through that long ago, so had Hank, and a few other officers around the place, although they all preserved the fiction for the sake of Sean's dignity. The years of loneliness had left their mark on the Captain, and what with his other duties, the cracks were beginning to show.

Sean Renard needed someone who was going to love him for himself, not his heritage or what he could do for the other person, but someone to give with no expectation of return, for a change.

 

Wu felt a shudder slip down his spine, and turned his eyes away from the screen for a moment. The notion slipped into his mind, wondering when the fatal crack would appear, and something whispered in his head that they should have found someone else for this gig. Wu turned back to the screen, instincts telling him that something that he couldn't see was very wrong and that Sean was at risk. But there was nothing tangible, they had no evidence, and Nick was barely believing that they had any reason to have tried this tack, even Hank was a little sceptical. After three days, the certainty that the drugs were being moved through the store was still there, but even undercover it was hard to fathom how it was being done.

 

Sharp eyes watched the Santa Captain and his elf sidekick, and evaluated the situation. They were hardly in sync, and this was a surprise. Despite the disguise, he recognised Hot Santa from a press conference two years ago, after that it was an easy pick to find the back up, especially the guy that kept scowling at the Captain, and the Captain's occasional longing glances. He figured spreading the word did no harm, hot Santa, the numbers of expectant women dragging children to see Santa, keeping Santa busy, and his angry Elf by his side.

 

Nick was miserable, the outfit was ridiculous, and rather hot, he was sweltering in the long sleeved top, and keeping a smile on his face was probably the hardest thing he had ever done. As yet another skimpily dressed, over made up mommy planted her small offspring on Sean's knee, hand lingering on the powerful, velvet-clad thigh just a moment too long, Nick wondered what the hell they were doing there, completely missing the hurt look in Sean's eyes, as they lingered on Nick's face a heartbeat too long, never seeing the polite but firm blank smile Sean offered the woman, or the gentle and surprisingly sweet smile that crossed his Captain's face as another little one raised his hand to Santa's cheek, and gurgled happily in Sean's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired loosely by the utterly gorgeous photographs of my friend Jason's daughter Kate with Santa Claus.


	5. Arguing the toss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team are divided, Nick thinks they have it wrong, and Hank and Wu think otherwise.
> 
> It doesn't really matter, because somewhere in the endless queue of children and their over-made up mommies, Nick has started to care about the weary acceptance he can see on Sean's face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, real life has once again gotten in the way of the plan, so this is likely to have some double-posting and might actually end on Boxing Day (that's the day after Christmas).
> 
> The intent is chapter 4 and 5 today, poss 6 and 7 tomorrow.... and after that is kinda in the lap of the gods...

"We are wasting our time." Nick closed the file on his knee with a snap, and glared at his partner.

Hank scowled, his usual good humour and calm demeanour was being sorely tested by this case. And Nick was being an ass.

"Focus, please." Sean's tone was sharper than he intended. "I am afraid Griffin is right, Burkhardt. As much as you don't want him to be. Intelligence says that the source of the drugs is the Toy Department and this is where we are likely to find our killer."

"Intelligence?" Nick's growl was mostly frustration, but Sean felt the sharpness of it. Once he would have snapped Burkhardt back in line, now he just looked down at the file in his hands and ignored the question.

Wu and Hank exchanged glances, officially worried. Hank looked his Captain over carefully, taking in the tired slump to the Captain's powerful body. This was not good.

 

Nick was surprised. He was being an ass, he knew it. Normally the Captain would never have allowed that to pass. Nick had almost been relying on that. He wanted a good fight. But that wasn't happening. Now he stared at Sean in disbelief, and what he saw scared him. The older man looked tired, and as long as Nick had known him, he had never seen the weary acceptance in the Royal Zauberbiest's features before. It was as though the man wasn't even trying anymore. Something shifted deep in Nick's heart. He had never meant this to go this far.

 

The meeting passed frustratingly slowly, and it seemed they were no further forward, all their suspects were dead ends and the lack of progress was concerning them all. Finally Sean dismissed them, and Nick lingered a little, "We're going for a quick drink," he said, hoping that the Captain would take it as an olive branch. That hope was dashed when Sean flicked a quick glance at him, "I have things to do, Burkhardt, not this evening."

Without even realising it, Nick was still processing the hurt in Sean's eyes, as the door closed behind him, and as he half turned in the hopes of protesting, the blinds were firmly closed.

 

Sean rummaged in his desk for the phone, hit the only number programmed into it. "Alexander." He listened to the man's voice, sighing inwardly as he pondered the problem in front of him, he couldn't refuse, however much he wanted to, because this problem was right on his doorstep. He could not afford the Wesen Council trampling all over his city, any weakness and the forces of his father, backed up by Reapers and Hundjagers would be in there too. Sean massaged his forehead with his free hand, listening to Alexander's annoyingly sinister little speech. "It will be done."

He rang off, and threw the phone back into the drawer.

If the Grimm was on his side, perhaps Sean could have confided the double stress of this to Nick. But the Grimm hated him, so Sean was just going to have to handle the side issue on his own.

 

"So... what is up with the Captain?" Nick tried for his most conciliatory tone, Wu was a little pissed with him lately, and Nick did not want to set him off.

Wu took a sip from his beer, and contemplated his answer. Truth, he felt a little angry with Nick. But it was also possible that Nick might be the only one who could really help the Captain. Alienating him would not be a good thing.

"Why?" He said.

Nick faltered, now that was a question. Why did he care? For a few seconds he was silent, aware of the heavy weight of Wu and Hank's stares. "Because maybe I care more than I thought I did?" He came up with.

Hank rubbed a hand over his face, "Nick..."

Nick jumped in, "I know. I know a lot of this is my fault," Wu clenched his teeth a little, the tiredness was down to the Wesen Council constantly using the Captain as their personal broom to sweep the West Coast clean, but Sean Renard's emotional state was pretty much one hundred percent down to Nick. "But I have to try, right?" There was something almost pitiful in Nick's hopeful expression that stopped Wu's rant before it started.

Maybe, if they could just get this case closed, there might be some hope for Nick and the Captain after all....


End file.
